Television programming and television commercial advertisements have traditionally been produced with the intent of the viewer watching the content in real time. For example, if a television program is 30 minutes long, including commercials, then the producers and broadcasters of the program have always intended that the viewer view the program in real time, and thus take 30 minutes to do so. Such programs may also be digitized and streamed over a network for playback using a computer with a display.
With the introduction of home videotape recorders it became possible to record a television program with commercials for later playback. Typically such devices also allow the viewer to “fast-forward” through any part of the program, and thus not watch that part of the program. Viewers could use this feature to fast-forward through the commercials that had been broadcast within the program, in order to watch the program without such commercial interruptions. Similarly, with streamed video content, the user is able to “fast-forward” over commercials or the like by using a pointing device to select and drag a video progress icon.
More recently, new technologies have been introduced that are gradually replacing the videotape machine as the means of recording television programs and commercials in the home and elsewhere. One such technology is the Digital Video Recorder that utilizes new digital technologies to allow a viewer to record significant amounts of television programming and store such programming on a hard drive.
In addition to allowing a viewer to more easily record significant amounts of television programming, many of these devices also incorporate other features that are an improvement over earlier videotape technologies. One of these features, typically, allows a viewer to more easily fast-forward through, or “skip” the commercials that were initially broadcast within the program resulting in fewer commercials actually being watched.
Typically, advertisers who use television pay for commercials based upon the number of viewers and/or type of viewers (by demographic breakdown or otherwise) that they believe will ultimately see the commercial.
As such, as more and more viewers gain access to these new technologies, and as more and more of them use these technologies to skip through the commercials, advertisers are less likely to be willing to pay as much as they traditionally have paid.
This may lead to a number of fundamental problems for advertisers, advertising agencies, television networks, cable channels, television producers and others who deliver advertising-supported programming due to reduced advertising revenues.
As can be seen, there is a need for an improved method and system for producing and delivering advertising and sponsorship messages to a television audience, whether by traditional broadcast, satellite or cable, or by streaming video using the Internet.